persecution

Persecution is unfair or abusive treatment toward a person or group of people, such as the persecution of someone who is different by calling him or her rude names and making threats.

The noun persecution is related to persecute, which comes from Latin persecut-, meaning “followed with hostility.” Persecution means hassling or singling out a person or group because of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or social status. In many schools, the persecution of students by bullies has resulted in a zero-tolerance policy for such despicable behavior.

the deliberate, systematic, or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons in an attempt to force another person to yield information or to make a confession or for any other reason

a form of torture in which the hands are tied behind a person's back and they are lifted off the ground by a rope tied to their wrists, then allowed to drop until their fall is checked with a jerk by the rope